Disinfecting live plants with common household substances

[IAN]

Q1: Is there anyway to eliminate disease on plants without killing them using common household substances? I have some plants in a pond and want to make sure they are disease free before moving them into my aquarium.

Q2: Are there any reliable products that do this? Where can I find them.

[trashion]

Potassium permanganate is one good chem, from what I've heard, but I was never able to find it.

Dipping plants in a weak bleach solution works well also. I use a splash of bleach in maybe 2 gallons of water, soak the plants for maybe 20 seconds.

Rinse with water and lots of dechlorinator afterwards.

[lohachata]

1 part bleach to 19 parts water..dip and soak plants for 2 minutes..... AND NOT A SECOND LONGER.....remove and rinse 2 or 3 times with clean water.
this will rid plants of any disease,parasite or other critter that could affect your tanks..including snails and their eggs..
potassium permanganate is easy enough to find;but it is a hazardous material..wicked oxidizer..you have to be extremely careful with dosing and make sure you wear gloves..it leaves a beautiful long lasting purple stain wherever it touches..it is something that i stay away from..i have a habit of getting things all over me...

[IAN]

What about salt?

[COM]

Table salt - sodium chloride, isn't really going to be a very effective cleanser and isn't exactly wonderful for plants.

[lohachata]

salt will work great at a level of about 2 pounds per gallon for 48 hours..but then you wouldn't have any plants left either....com is right..it really doesn't do what you need it to do..
the bleach is best bet.

[IAN]

Ok that's just grand. I just thought salt Might work too.

[FatboySkinny]

I haven't gotten my fish tank yet, but I was thinking about putting in live plants. What diseases do I have to be worried about? I had no idea.

[trashion]

I don't know for sure, but I'm sure ich parasites could travel on a plant. Snails are the most-likely problem you would introduce to your tank.

[lohachata]

the only reason that i ever treated plants was to get rid of snails and their eggs..there are several products that will kill snails but not the eggs..the bleach dip will kill both...plus any other bacteria and parasite that can hang on to plants..

[ivwarrior]

I'd skip the potassium permanganate idea. As stated above, it's nasty stuff if you're not careful with it. We use it at work as a regenerate in iron filters for people with high levels of iron in their well water. In addition to staining pretty much everything it touches purple, it'll also give you a few days worth of brown skin if you get it on yourself. I would imagine it'd stain the plants for a while, too.

If you really want to try it, check with your local hardware store, or if you have one nearby, a place that deals in water treatment equipment like water softeners, etc.

[mikeingeorgia]

I only have a few plants so I'm speaking from limited experience but here is what I've done. I have a couple of Anubias and I used bleach and water at a ratio or 1 part bleach to 20 parts water or 1/4 cup bleach to 5 cups water. I then held the plant in it for 3 mins then rinsed it off under fresh water extremely well. The plants have been in the tanks a little while now and show no signs of distress or snails. I also have 1 Argentine sword plant that I wanted to try that I saw at a chain store. It came in a plastic tube and had gel packed around it's roots to provide moisture. I took it out of the tube and thoroughly washed the gel out of it's roots and planted it. I am quite pleased with it also. They had quite a few varieties in the tubes and I'm definitely considering getting some more.